UK high-street cash use on the rise - BRC

08 June 2012 | 4645 views | 3 Pound note Queen Close up

Paying in-store with cash is more common than a year ago as recession-hit customers try to keep track of their spending, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which is also calling for action to force down interchange fees.

BRC figures, based on over 9.4 billion transactions in shops, shows cash was used in 5.7% more in 2011 than the previous year, accounting for 58% of all payments. In contrast, the percentage of transactions carried out by card fell by 10.53%. In 2011, debit cards made up 29.1% and credit and charge cards 11%.

By value, cash accounted for 32.03% of 2011 sales, compared to 45.65% for debit cards and 21.47% for credit and charge cards. The slow death of cheques continues, making up only 0.19% of retail sales turnover.

Tom Ironside, director, business and regulation, BRC, says: "Customers have less money. They're buying things only as and when they need them, shopping more often but spending less each time, and they're more likely to be paying with cash."

The BRC is using the figures' publication to renew its calls for card interchange fees to be slashed. The average cost to a retailer of having a credit or charge card payment processed is 36.2 pence while for a debit card it is 9.6 pence. Meanwhile, transporting and banking cash costs just 1.5 pence on average.

The consortium claims that the 58.3% of all retail transactions made with cash account for only 11.1% of retailers' costs while credit and charge cards are 11% of transactions but 51.1% of costs.

Citing last month's EU court dismissal of MasterCard's challenge against a European Commission ruling that the firm's cross-border interchange fees violated competition law, the BRC now wants UK action.

"Our evidence shows fees on domestic cards transactions are also unjustifiably high. The Office of Fair Trading should follow the landmark European ruling with rapid action in the UK," says Ironside.

Comments: (3)

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A Finextra member | 08 June, 2012, 16:46

As far as I can see, from the BRC report itself, the use of Cheques is on the increase both in terms of mix of use (up 50% from 0.06% to 0.09%) and number of transactions (up 77%).

The use of cheques therefore seems to be increasing, albeit the value of cheque payments is decreasing.

The use of credit and charge cards also seems to be increasing (which attraact the highest interchange fees I think) with use of debit cards falling off in % mix terms.

Or did I get my sums wrong?

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Matt White - Finextra - London | 08 June, 2012, 17:15

@ Anon

No, you didn't get your sums wrong.

Yes, cheque usage rose from 0.06% of all transactions in 2010 to 0.09% in 2011. I wouldn't read too much into that though - a 50% rise from such a low base doesn't have to signify much. Just look at the previous years to get an idea of how the numbers bump around; in 2009 in was 0.13% and in 2008 0.07%. The point is, cheques account for miniscule fraction of high street payments (most big retailers don't even accept them anymore).

Similarly, yes, credit and charge cards saw a slight increase from 10.86% of all transactions in 2010 to 10.98% in 2011. However, the changes for debit cards (nearly 5% down) and cash (3% up) are far greater and show that the broad 'cards down, cash up' claim has some validity.

Here's a link to the full report.

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